Founded in 2008, Plus500 has seen incredible growth in a relatively short space of time as a global fintech company with subsidiaries in seven different countries. As an online broker, Plus500 has an impressive number of Contracts for Difference (CFDs) that it trades in over 2,500 financial instruments. You may have seen it listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker ‘PLUS’ and within the UK FTSE 250 index. Founded by six Israel Institute of Technology graduates and successful entrepreneurs with a starting capital of $400,000, it is an online trading success story. As a CFD trading platform, you may be wondering, is Plus500 a good broker? The answer to this question is yes. However, there are pros and cons with all trading platforms, as we cover in our Plus500 review. Availability subject to regulations.

UK Australia Israel Cyprus Singapore The Seychelles

In the UK, Plus500UK Ltd is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 509909), and being listed on the London Stock Exchange, it has to adhere to strict rules and regulations to trade.

Who Is Plus500 For?

As part of our Plus500 review, it’s important to consider who the trading platform is for. The first thing to mention is that it is not really for beginners. It is for those who have a strong working knowledge of how CFD trading works. As we covered in our IG broker review, CFD trading is where people trade the value difference in contracts bought and sold through an online provider, in this case the Plus500 platform. You need to have knowledge of this type of trading since you speculate on the rise and fall of contract value differences rather than owning any assets. After all, the amount you make or lose depends on your best judgment and accurate understanding of CFDs. That said, if you are familiar with CFD trading, our Plus500 review suggests that it is a great platform to access a wide range of markets with low trading costs. Yes, there are Plus500 fees to consider, but there are over 2,500 trading instruments for you to trade. The Plus500 platform is therefore ideal for experienced traders who are not fazed by transacting manually and find the low fees and commissions appealing.

Plus500 Platform Features and Services

As a quick Plus500 review, and at a glance, the Plus500 platform is best known for its CFD trading. As such, all the instruments listed below can be traded on the Plus500 platform through its CFD service:

Indices Plus500 forex (trade a wide range of forex pairs) Commodities (gold, oil and silver are all available on the Plus500 platform) Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) such as SPDRUSA500 and VXX Volatility Options (cut and pull options on oil, Facebook and Germany 30) Cryptocurrencies (including bitcoin, Litecoin, Stellar, Cardano, NEO, EOS, IOTA and Ethereum). Availability subject to regulations.

The company’s success means that it is often the first to introduce high-profile instruments and listed equities. Over the next few years, it intends to grow its market share in different jurisdictions to expand its geographical reach and open new opportunities and services. Currently, clients from over 50 countries use WebTrader since it offers an efficient online trading experience that is reliable and accessible from almost anywhere in the world on a wide range of devices. WebTrader, as its name suggests, is powered through the web and is very easy to use, provided you have CFD trading knowledge. Please note that although the platform is easy to use, this does not make trading simple. It still requires knowledge and experience. Beginners are always advised to start trading with the demo account. Our Plus500 review research has revealed almost 150 technical indicators built into the Plus500 platform to enable investors to set up multiple watchlists. Likewise, there are sophisticated analytical tools, all available from the same window. Unlike many other online trading platforms, WebTrader does not include the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) facility, so it falls short somewhat on customization. However, its layout and functionality are straightforward for those with experience to quickly grasp. The Plus500 platform makes light work of selecting from thousands of instruments and placing a trade within a couple of clicks.

Plus500 Account Types

There are three main types of Plus500 accounts, and these are:

Demo Account

If you want to conduct a Plus500 review yourself, opening a demo account is a great place to start. There’s no 30-day trial since it is unlimited in its time. This means that you can peruse the Plus500 platform at your leisure and take time to familiarize yourself with its features and the Plus500 fees. Aside from transacting using virtual demo funds, the demo account works the same way as a live account.

Retail Account

The Plus500 retail account is the standard account that most investors use, and it is available in the UK, EU, Singapore, Australia and the global market. Using this account, you can trade over 70 Plus500 CFDs on forex currency pairs and the full range of Plus500 instruments.

Professional Account

The Plus500 professional account shares many of the same features as the retail account, and more. However, you have to meet at least two out of the following criteria to qualify:

Have over €500,000 to invest Can demonstrate recent high-volume trading Evidence of your financial services experience

Setting up a live account is quite simple, but as you would expect, documentation is required in line with FCA rules. To credit your account, accepted payment methods include credit and debit card, PayPal and bank transfer. Other methods may be available too. Our best advice is to check the Plus500 website for an update.

Plus500 Commissions and Fees

In our Plus500 review, we can see that as a rule, Plus500 generates a profit by investor trades that cross the bid or ask spread. Therefore, the Plus500 commission stands at zero since trading costs are restricted to the instrument’s spread. There are other Plus500 fees to consider, though. The Plus500 platform charges fees on out-of-hours trades and positions held overnight. In addition, there are Plus500 fees on Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders, otherwise known as GSLOs. Similarly, Plus500 inactivity fees are applied after 12 weeks of an account being dormant. This will be up to $10 per month for the period that no login is made. Unlike many other traders, there are no Plus500 ancillary fees (charges for withdrawals or account termination). Plus500 will charge a currency conversion fee when trading instruments in a different currency to your home currency.

Plus500 Research and Education

This may come as a disappointment, but unlike other online trading platforms, our Plus500 review reveals the platform to have made very little investment into educating account holders. Perhaps this is a deliberate move, given the risky nature of CFD trading and the desire to keep the platform as one used by experienced traders only. That said, by its legal requirements, the broker has a Key Information Document that clearly explains the fundamentals of each type of instrument. Plus, the website is packed with helpful information.

Pros of Plus500

There are quite a few plus points to using the Plus500 platform, and here’s our Plus500 review of the key benefits:

It has one of the most significant financial instruments that can be traded through a CFD service – over 2,500 to be exact. Guaranteed stop loss orders protect those trading on the Plus500 platform from risks associated with market gaps in CFD trading. However, these are not available on all instruments. 24/7 customer support through a responsive online chat facility and on email and WhatsApp. Although there is no telephone number to reach customer services on, the issues ticket system appears to be prompt and responsive. Customizable charts for expert traders to analyze the performance of their instruments with various indicators showing the percentages at which other Plus500 platform traders are buying and selling instruments. You can try out the platform with a demo account, which is quite unusual as far as online trading platforms go. It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the platform without fear of the Plus500 inactivity fee. No social copy trading. This is a plus point for experienced traders since they can be confident that no one else on the Plus500 platform is making a like-for-like copy of their trades.

Cons of Plus500

In our Plus500 review, there aren’t too many observable cons to the Plus500 platform. It does not hide the fact that it is a platform for more experienced traders. However, that being said, there are still some downsides to be aware of:

It is not currently available to US clients. With no API integrations, the Plus500 platform is not compatible with other third-party software applications that, as an experienced trader, you might already be using. This is quite a big negative for those reliant on MT4, compatible analytical tools and direct banking integrations. Limited research and educational value. We understand the reasons behind the distinct lack of podcasts, learning portals, webinars and videos. However, Plus500 lags far behind other online trading platforms in this regard. There is very little in the way of guided research, tools and commentary for account holders, and certainly no active community forum. You can only trade CFDs, so there’s not quite the same freedom as with other online trading platforms. Plus, CFDs come with the inherent risks of losing money quickly due to leverage.

The company openly states that: Once your account information has been submitted, it will be reviewed by a member of the Plus500 compliance team and will display as ‘under review’. The entire process usually takes a maximum of two days but is often shorter. There is a Plus500 minimum deposit to be aware of as follows:

€100 with credit/debit card €100 by eWallet €500 by bank transfer

As a note, all your account monies are held in protected accounts for transparency, and deposits and withdrawals are largely free. The only exception to this rule is where your bank charges a fee, an unsupported currency base is deposited or you go over your agreed monthly operations. You will be alerted to this, though.

Final Thoughts

As with all brokerages, especially online trading platforms, you must be aware of the risks in trading and do your research. There’s no replacement for spending sufficient time discovering what other people have to say about the Plus500 platform. Take Plus500 up on its offer of a demo account and spend time familiarizing yourself with the platform first. That way, when you go live, you will have already observed markets and perfected how you plan to use Plus500 to your advantage. Cryptocurrency availability subject to regulations.